Destiny Memories and Enduring Memories
by DancingwithDestiny
Summary: Roxas mourns the loss of his best friend Axel, which has a significant impact on his Other. But in the depths of his grief, Roxas finds a way he can be with his best friend always.
1. Destiny Memories

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
This was my first fanfic ever. Back in late '06, I believe.  
Well, I wrote THIS part first, then I wrote the second part a few months later. One night in bed Ijust had this IDEA to write this fanfic, and so I did; all before I went to sleep -.-'  
No wonder I took my time writing the second part...  
Anyway, apologies in advance for this being epic fail...I was just a newbie :'(

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Roxas, Namine, Axel, Sora, Kairi or Riku. If I did, things would've turned out a little differently... :(

* * *

"This island's pretty great, isn't it?" Roxas said to Naminé as she sat down beside him on the sand next to the water.

"Yes, it's beautiful," Naminé replied as they watched the sun set.

"I wonder what Hayner, Pence and Olette would think of it here," Roxas said as the cool breeze swept through his hair.

"They would probably like it, but I think they would prefer Twilight Town," Naminé said, while the ocean waves gently reached the shore.

"They wouldn't remember you, Roxas."

"What?" Roxas bolted upright from the sand.

"The Hayner, Pence and Olette you knew were replicas, the real ones wouldn't know who you are.," Naminé said wisely.

Roxas sighed. "Then I guess they weren't my real friends," he said sadly.

"Do you remember your true friend?" Naminé asked.

Roxas thought for just a moment.

"Axel."

Naminé nodded.

"I wonder what _he _would think of this place?" Roxas said with a smile.

"He's been here before," Naminé informed him.

"Really?"

"Yes, he came to find Kairi. He didn't stay for very long though."

"Is that why Kairi was at the castle?"

"Yes."

Roxas paused for a moment.

"If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be together right now, would we?"

"No, probably not," Naminé answered, and paused. "He never stopped caring about you, Roxas. You meant more to him than anything else in the world."

Roxas sighed, and leaned back on the sand. "I wonder what happened to him…"

"You haven't accessed Sora's memories yet?"

"Nah…I've too busy just kicking back and relaxing…I thought they'd be too much of a burden…Wait!" Roxas exclaimed with a jolt. "Sora knows what happened to him?"

"Yes."

"Do _you _know what happened to him?"Naminé paused."Please, tell me!" Roxas pleaded.

Naminé paused again.

"…I think you should find out for yourself."

Roxas was silent. Suddenly he was filled with a sickening dread.

"Just go into Sora's memories, Roxas…you'll see. I'll leave you alone for a while.

"Naminé got up and walked to the nearby beach shack.

Roxas watched the sun sink further down into the horizon.

* * *

Kairi came out of the shack, the sun had just set, and she went to look for Sora so they could go inside for the night. She searched and searched, until she spotted Sora sitting alone next to the shore.

She walked up to him, and she saw that he had his head down.

"Sora? What's wrong?"

Sora picked up his head and looked up to Kairi.

"I don't know," he said, as tears streamed down his face.

"I just can't seem to stop crying."


	2. Enduring Memories

Sora, Riku and Kairi had been back at Destiny Islands for a short while, and from all outward appearances, they were living happily ever after. And they were, except for one thing.

Sora had been acting differently for a while; he just wasn't his usual, happy-go-lucky self anymore. Kairi and Riku were concerned, but whatever they tried, nothing seemed to help. Sora had been crying much more than usual, and he didn't know why.

The reason was Roxas. Now joined with Sora, but still retaining an independent mind and partial-being.

Roxas, on Naminé's advice (she had melded with Kairi, but like Roxas, she also retained her independence of mind), had ventured into Sora's memories to find out for himself what had become of his best friend; Axel. And when he did, he could not contain himself. When he found out, he wept and wept. It was his deep sorrow that was causing Sora to weep and feel so sad, it was that strong. Roxas grieved Axel tremendously, and the guilt he felt for treating Axel so badly, and for not seeing how much he cared about him, was eating away at him. A deep, awful depression had begun to set in, like a gaping hole in his soul.

But one night, Roxas had a dream.

* * *

Black. Nothing but black.

But Roxas felt a presence somewhere among the dark. He searched and stumbled through the pitch-blackness to find whomever it was.

_How am I going to find anyone here? _Roxas thought. _I can't even see…_

But suddenly, he fell into a place of bright, white light.

The light beamed so brightly, Roxas was blinded by it. He felt the same presence here too. But he couldn't find out who it was, for he couldn't even open his eyes.

_It's so bright…I can't even look around…_

But then, Roxas felt himself being lifted to another place. A place of neither black or white, but of gray. He could open his eyes again, and he was able to see all around him.

But the place was empty.

Yet, Roxas still felt a presence there.

"Who are you?" Roxas shouted, his voice echoing in the stillness. "Show yourself!" he demanded.

There was a silence.

"Man, you _still _can't take a joke."

He knew that voice…but, it wasn't possible…

Then, out of nowhere, someone appeared.

Roxas gasped. He stood stock-still in disbelief. Can this be happening?

A young man stood before him, enveloped in a silvery-gray glow. He wore a long, black hooded coat, and his head was filled with long, red spikes of hair. He smiled widely at him.

It was Axel.

Roxas' eyes started to well at the sight of him. "Axel!" Roxas joyfully exclaimed. He ran to Axel, throwing his arms around him.

"Axel, I'm so sorry…I should've never treated you like I did, I know you care about me…I was so stupid…" Roxas said as he buried his face in Axel's coat and wept.

Axel wrapped his arms around Roxas and held him tight. "It's alright…" he said comfortingly, "You don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm the one who should be apologizing…

"Getting so angry with you, trying to carry out the Organization's orders…I…was so hurt, I couldn't control myself…I hope you can forgive me…" he sighed, whispering into Roxas' ear.

Roxas looked up at him, tears still streaming down his face. "I do," he sniffed. "I forgive you."

Axel smiled down at him. "So do I."

He gently wiped Roxas' tears away with his fingers. They embraced once more, both wanting this moment to last forever.

Suddenly, Roxas picked up his head to look at Axel again.

"Axel, if you don't mind my asking…How did you get here? Why am I seeing you? How did you survive?" he asked.

"Always were full of questions…" Axel remarked with a sideways grin. "I think I can answer those all at once. Because you remember me. Well, actually, because you and Sora remember me."

Roxas was puzzled.

"Huh?" he said, pulling away from Axel. "Why Sora?"

"He's the one with the heart, remember?" Axel said playfully.

"Long story short; when I met up with Sora that last time and I did what I did, and I told him how I feel about you, Sora changed his mind about me, and I earned a place in his heart.

"And when we last saw each other, right before I left you, you regained your memories of me. And when your memories of me combined with that place in Sora's heart…well, you can see the result.

"Plus the heart that you have…"

Roxas was dumbfounded.

"What?"

"…A little one, kind of a remnant really," Axel continued, "Don't deny it Roxas; there _is _something there. I know, I can see it now."

Roxas stood in stunned silence. He looked down at his chest, but he didn't see anything different from before.

"So that, in combination with my place in Sora's heart and your memories, helped me live on," Axel said, "At least _here_, anyway…"

"So…wait," Roxas said, "That means that you didn't really survive, that this isn't really you…it's just your shadow," he finished sadly.

"I'd say it's more like my essence…" Axel said. After seeing Roxas' melancholy expression, he sighed.

"Oh, come on Roxas…when you put your arms around me, you could feel me, right?"

Roxas nodded."And when I whispered in your ear, you could hear me clear as day, right?"

Roxas nodded again.

"And I know you can feel my presence, that's what got you here. So what more could there be? I'm here, you're here, and we're together again. That's what matters. Why get picky about the details?" he finished with a grin.

Roxas smiled a little smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said. Then his smile faded.

Axel sighed. "You've gotta lighten up, Rox," he said, shaking his head. "You've got Sora all messed up."

Roxas looked up. "What?"

"Yeah, he's been crying and everything. Jeez, I thought you'd be a little more in touch with your other…"

"I…I had no idea…" Roxas said in disbelief. "When I found out what happened to you, I guess I just distanced myself from everything…I feel so bad…"

"Sora's feeling pretty bad too, and he has no idea why," Axel said. "That's why I decided to come to you; both of you are seriously depressed, Sora's clueless, while you didn't seem to be able to pull yourself out of your pit of despair, and you weren't looking for a way to either. So I decided to take things into my own hands and try to brighten up both your lives at the same time," he smirked.

"I'm so sorry…" Roxas felt awful for being so wallowed in grief and self-pity that he didn't even notice its effect on Sora. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked in desperation.

Axel smiled, pulling him close with one arm. "Just cheer up, silly," he said, ruffling Roxas' blonde hair playfully with his free hand.

Roxas smiled genuinely."Thanks, Axel."

Axel warmly smiled back.

But suddenly, his smile faded. His picked up his head and looked around, as if he had heard something. But Roxas didn't hear anything.

"Uh oh…" he said. "I have to go now…"

He reluctantly pulled away from Roxas and started to walk away, to where, Roxas wasn't sure.

"Axel! Wait!" Roxas called. "Don't go!"

"Sora's starting to wake up, I have to go," Axel said sadly.

"No, you don't!" Roxas said, tears streaming down his face once again. "You don't have to go! Please, don't leave me…"

Axel paused, and turned to look back at Roxas."I would never leave you," Axel said, smiling sweetly. "If you ever need me, just look in Sora's heart, I'll be there, I promise. I'll be waiting for you."

He turned back around and continued to walk away.

"Axel!" Roxas cried. "Axel!"

* * *

Sora tossed and turned vigorously in bed.

"Axel…" he muttered in his sleep, "Axel…

"Axel!" Sora said aloud, waking up abruptly and bolting upright in bed. As he started to come to his senses, he became confused.

_Why did I say that? _he thought, completely puzzled. _Was I dreaming about him?_

He wracked his brain, trying to , in his mind, he saw a flash of red hair that was unmistakably familiar.

_I guess I was…_

But try as he might, he couldn't remember anything more from the dream.

_Why would I be dreaming about him? _he thought groggily.

He turned to look at his clock. He would be getting up in a few of lying awake to ponder his dream, Sora decided to try to get some more sleep.

_It's probably nothing to worry about anyway…_

He rolled back over, and he fell back asleep.

A deafening silence.

Roxas was back in the deep darkness, and he was lost.

But he did not struggle, or fight to find a way. He just walked, calmly and quietly, as he thought to himself about all that had transpired not too long ago.

_Did all that really happen? _he something inside him told him that it was true, what had happened was for Roxas thought of when he was reunited with Axel, and a warm, happy feeling spread through him from head to smiled, but then his smile faded as another thought came to his mind.

_How am I going to find him again? _he thought as he walked, _I've never gone into Sora's heart before, I don't even know where to start, where to go, how to get there…I don't even know where I am now…_

A deep sadness washed over him again.

_I just want to see him again… _he thought sadly. _He said he'd be waiting for me, but how can I get to him if I don't even know the way? I don't want to keep him waiting…_

But just then, something caught his eye. He looked up, and he saw a tiny dot of light directly ahead of him. He walked closer to the speck of light curiously, and to his surprise, the more he walked toward it, the larger it became.

He walked backward and forward a few steps, making sure he wasn't imagining it, and surely, as he went back and forth, it got smaller and larger.

Roxas stood there for a moment, unsure if he should take the chance and follow the mysterious light.

Then something deep inside him spoke again, telling him that it was right.

And so he walked toward it cautiously, the point of light getting slowly, but surely larger.

_Could this be the way?_

The light got bigger and brighter, and in an instant he was filled with a newfound hope. He ran eagerly to the light, hoping with all that he had that he was right.

"Hey, Sora! We're getting old out here!"

Sora jolted awake. He looked over at his bedside clock.

_Ugh, I overslept again…_

He hurriedly got out of bed, got dressed, and ate a quick breakfast before heading out.

"I hope he isn't sad today too," Kairi said to Riku. They were waiting outside Sora's house, for it was almost time for school.

"We're going to be late, _again,_" Riku said irritably.

"Oh, come on, don't pretend you're not worried about Sora too," Kairi said.

"Alright, I guess I am," Riku grumbled, "He just needs to snap out of this, that's all."

"But…what if it's more than that?" Kairi mused, "For all we know, it could have something to do with Roxas."

Riku looked up. "What?"

"Well, it would explain a lot; Sora doesn't know why he's feeling this way, so…maybe Roxas is the one who's sad, and it's just showing through Sora."

"Or maybe he just doesn't wanna tell us," Riku shrugged.

Kairi sighed. Sad or not, she couldn't wait for Sora to join them. She liked talking to him about these kinds of things, but she hated trying to have a conversation like this with Riku.

_Why does Sora like him again? _she thought to herself, as she looked over to Riku, who was leaning against a palm tree with a smug, miserable look on his face.

Thankfully, Sora came out to join them not long afterward. He ran up to them, wearing something Kairi and Riku hadn't seen in a while.

A smile."How are you today, Sora?" Kairi asked."Sleepy," Sora yawned, "Sorry I overslept on you guys."

"I mean, are you feeling OK?" Kairi said, a little taken aback.

"Yeah," Sora answered, "I am." And he smiled even wider.

"Now come on! Let's go!" he said happily and started to run off.

Surprised by Sora's sudden change in mood, they followed along behind him.

"Told ya," Riku smirked as he looked over to Kairi. She frowned at him."We don't know for sure…"

"Whatever," Riku said, running faster to catch up with Sora, most likely in an attempt to beat him in a race to school.

Kairi sighed again. She knew it couldn't have been that simple.

And it wasn't.

Just before Sora left the house, he felt a strong, warm feeling in his heart, and immediately afterward, he felt his happiness return. He didn't feel so terribly sad anymore. And he smiled for the first time in a long while.

The three of them got to school (Riku won the race, of course, but Sora put up a good fight, much better than before; better than even yesterday), and gathered just outside the doors.

"Looks like the old Sora's back," Riku said to Sora with a pat to the shoulder.

"Yep," Sora said, "And I think he's here to stay," he smiled.

With that, the trio walked through the doors into the school. And the feeling of intense warmth from deep inside Sora's heart carried him throughout the day, and from then no longer felt that terrible sadness, he was happy again, inside and out.

_The End_


End file.
